Second Button
by StarkBlack
Summary: Graduation is a time of reflection, of celebration, and of new beginnings. Higher rating for second chapter.


This is for **waters_of_lethe** on Live Journal. I'm sorry it took so long, but I hope you like it!

I've always loved those short, cutesy little manga one-shots with the angsty love and confessions between best friends in high school. It's seriously my weakness. (You cannot imagine what Sekaiichi Hatsukoi does to me, guh.) So I was of course thrilled to put one of those sappy, cutesy, little things together myself. It's in two parts, the first being the angsty/cute part, and the second is the part with the NC-17 rating.

Please enjoy, and if anyone needs an explanation on the Japanese tradition of the "second button" you can find a link at the top of my profile here.

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**Second Button**

Sanji watched the cherry blossoms dance outside his homeroom window. The wind teased the branches, making them sway gently as it pulled petals free, sending them floating down to the grass below.

Today was graduation day. In just a few more hours he would be free, he would never have to set foot in another school ever again. He would not be going to college, there was no need. He had already chosen his profession, and he was already adept. He would take over the restaurant here in Kyoto while his father expanded the business, spreading the art of French cooking to all parts of Japan. That was all Sanji had ever really wanted: his own restaurant. He could bury his other desires, his other dreams, if he could just have that. He could be happy.

"A bunch of the girls are crying."

Ace's voice pulled Sanji from his thoughts. He glanced at his friend who had come to join him at the window.

"It's because they just all just realized after today they won't see you anymore," Sanji chuckled to hide a sharp pain that almost took his breath away.

Ace shrugged and watched something outside in the yard. He had been quiet today, thoughtful, which wasn't completely abnormal for the eldest D brother, but it was a little out of character. Sanji had expected Ace would have been excited to see this day come, but it seemed as though his best friend was preoccupied. Sad.

"Are you excited about America?" Sanji asked.

Nodding, Ace pushed his hands further into the pockets of his uniform slacks. "It'll be fun, I think. Luffy's kinda bummed about having to stay a year by himself, but gramps doesn't want to have to introduce him to another school."

"Usopp and Nami will keep him on track," Sanji said.

"Yup," Ace said quietly, "he'll be fine."

Sanji didn't understand why Ace seemed so melancholy. The Ds had been talking about going to America for almost a year. They, as a family, had been selected to teach martial arts at a prestigious school in California. It was an incredible opportunity for them all, and Ace had been extremely excited about it since it had become a possibility.

Sanji had been proud of his friend, even if the news had been devastating. The thought of Ace moving away and living in another country had shocked him so profoundly that Sanji had gone home that night and cried himself to sleep. He had emailed his homeroom teacher the next morning and told her he was sick, but really he had just laid in bed all day hating himself and hating the way he was and how he felt. The next few weeks had been hard, but Sanji had learned to push the pain aside and go on like nothing was wrong.

However, Sanji knew that once this day was over, once their graduation was behind them, he would go home and cry like that again tonight.

Ace was leaving tomorrow morning.

"I think we're supposed to line up now," Ace murmured.

Sanji nodded and followed his friend out into the hallway. Their classmates chatted and laughed and clapped them on the back, but Sanji could say nothing. He smiled, he tried to pretend, but all he could think about was the fact that in a few hours, he would probably never see Ace again.

The ceremony was surprisingly quick. After receiving his diploma Sanji returned to his seat to listen to the closing speech from the mayor. He couldn't make out a word. He sat with his hands gripping the small roll of paper tightly and his stomach tying itself into painful knots. What should he do? He had agonized over possibly telling Ace his feelings for several weeks, but really what would that do? If Sanji told Ace he was in love with him, they would part and Ace would probably never contact him. He would go to America and sever all ties. Ace would hate him.

No, Sanji would not tell him. He would calm down. He would smile and pose for pictures and never let anyone know what he was actually thinking. He would bury it away in his heart where no one could ever find it, not even himself.

He sat up straight and checked the collar of his uniform. He pulled down his sleeves and tugged at the jacket's hem. When his hand brushed over his lowest button however, he stopped. His fingers slowly traced up from the bottom, tracing the fourth, then the third, and stopping at the second. He ran the pad of his pointer finger over the smooth, brass, surface. He thought about how many times he had thought of this day, and imagined what it would be like to give his second button to Ace. Many, many times he had even fantasized Ace coming to him and asking for it.

Without thinking, Sanji gripped the button and pulled it from his uniform. If he wasn't giving it to Ace, he wasn't giving it to anyone, and he never would.

He slipped the button into his pocket as he stood to sing the school song.

As the ceremony ended, students were released back to their classes to collect yearbooks and say their goodbyes. Sanji found himself swept up in the arms of more than one girl and asked to smile into more cameras than he could count. The afternoon was a whir of pictures, smiles, signatures on yearbook pages, and more than one tearful goodbye.

"Hey," Sanji asked as things started to die down, "has anyone seen Ace?"

"Yeah," a classmate said, "I saw him a few minutes ago outside. He's by the sakura trees in the yard."

Thanking his friend, Sanji placed his things on his desk and left the classroom. He moved into the hallway and down the stairs, his mouth going dry and his palms starting to sweat as he opened the doors to the outside.

The wind was gentle on his face as he made his way to the garden. He spotted Ace standing beneath the trees, his hands in his pockets and his face turned up to watch the clouds in the sky. Sanji's heart started to pound as he made his way over. This was it.

"I'm glad it didn't rain today," Ace was smiling when Sanji joined him. "This is kind of how I always pictured it."

Sanji chuckled without any real humor in it, his heart hurt too much.

"Yeah, it's like shojo. Sakura petals and everything."

Ace nodded. "You know, I thought it would be more dramatic than all that, like, I'd feel something at the end. But it was kind of… anti-climactic really. I feel the same as I did before the ceremony."

"I'll probably hit you later when you're on the plane or something."

"Yeah maybe," Ace said. "I just thought, you know since…"

His voice trailed off and at first Sanji thought nothing of it. When it was clear Ace was not going to continue, Sanji looked up from where he had been studying the ground and was startled by what he saw.

Ace was staring at the place where Sanji's second button should be.

Irrational fear that Ace had somehow figured it out tore through him. Sanji dug his hands further into his pockets, his right gripping the hidden button so hard his knuckles creaked.

"What?"

Ace's eyes were sad as they lifted to meet Sanji's gaze. The hurt in them was obvious, but it didn't make any sense.

"You… didn't tell me…" Ace whispered.

Sanji almost couldn't speak his mouth was so dry. "Didn't tell you what?"

"That you… um," Ace's voice seemed to catch. He motioned to Sanji's jacket and swallowed thickly. "You gave away your second button."

Suddenly embarrassed, Sanji could feel his face turning red. What was he supposed to say?

"What do you care if I gave my second button away?"

A moment of silence passed between them before Ace moved. He came close, leaned in, the tips of his shaggy, black, hair tickled Sanji's cheek. Sanji's entire body reacted, shivering intensely. His heart thumped against his ribcage as if trying to escape.

Ace's voice shook as he said softly, "Because I wanted it…"

Sanji froze. His heart stopped beating.

When Ace pulled away, his face was downcast, so full of shame and sadness that it made Sanji want to cry. His friend pulled a hand from his pocket to wipe absently at his eyes before he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I won't bother you anymore, I promise. I'll leave you alone." Ace's lips started to tremble as he backed away. He lifted his hand to run his sleeve over his eyes once more before he lifted his head. He looked straight at Sanji through what could be nothing less than a broken heart and murmured, "Bye, Sanji."

Ace turned around and headed toward the gate.

Sanji took a shaky breath and realized he was still standing there. He hadn't moved, he hadn't said anything! Pulling his hands from his pockets, Sanji broke into a run. He sprinted to Ace and reached out for his friend's arm. He pulled him back, turning Ace to face him directly.

"Ace! Ace! Stop!"

He didn't give Ace a chance to protest. He didn't let his friend say or do anything before he grabbed Ace's hand and placed his button in that tanned, calloused, palm. He looked straight into those dark, watery eyes and squeezed his friend's fingers around the button.

"I didn't want to give it to anyone but you."

Ace let out a shuddering sob and covered his eyes with his other hand. He trembled in Sanji's hold, and took a few slow, deep breaths before he spoke so softly, Sanji almost couldn't hear him.

"Can I give you mine?"

Sanji felt his knees go weak, even as he suddenly felt he could fly.

"Yes."

**~end part one~**


End file.
